Has The Number Of Hate Crimes Really Decreased?
According to data released Monday by the FBI, reported hate crime incidents in the United States have declined by 15% last year.
This is the lowest percentage reported in at least a decade.
According to the FBI data, the most frequent types of hate crimes were property destruction, intimidation and simple assault.
Of those reported, 48.5% were racially motivated, and 71.4% of which were race related were against Black Americans.
19.7% were on the basis of religion, 18.5% were directed against gays, 11.8% were directed on the basis of national origin, including Hispanics, and 1.5% were on the basis of disability.
Though there has been a decrease in the number of reports, as announced by the FBI, a number of states to not evenly participate in reporting these numbers, including Pennsylvania, Georgia, Mississippi, and Hawaii, which did not participate at all. Also, most hate crimes nationally are not reported.
Over the years, more agencies are participating in the data collection efforts, however, there is a decline in the number of agencies that are actually sending in information.
So, is it really accurate to say that the number of hate crimes has decreased, or has the decrease in the number of agencies sending in information caused variations in the reports that the American people receive?
